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Weekly Men's Basketball Notes (Dec. 3)

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PLAYER OF THE WEEK Boise State guard C.J. Williams, a senior from Ingewood, Calif. (Westchester HS), averaged 22.5 points in a pair of victories over in-state rivals Idaho State and Idaho. Last Tuesday in a 74-71 overtime victory against Idaho State, Williams scored a career-high 32 points. He made eight three-point field goals in the game, one shy of the school record. On Saturday, he added 13 points against Idaho State, matching his previous career high. For the week, he was 14-of-28 from the field, 11-of-20 from three-point range and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. It was Williams' first WAC player of the week award.

Other nominations Other player of the week nominations included:
Damon Jackson, Sr., G, Fresno State - averaged 13.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in a pair of victories in the McCaffrey Classic. In the title game against Saint Marys, Jackson scored 20 points, including the game-winner with 0.5 seconds left, to give Fresno State a 67-65 win. He was named the MVP of the tournament.
Kevinn Pinkney, So., F, Nevada - scored a career-high 25 points on 11-of-12 shooting and added 10 rebounds in a loss against Weber State. For the week, he averaged 15.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and shot .632 from the field (12-19).
Jamaal Moore, Fr., F/G, Rice - averaged a team-high 12.0 points in a split of two games last week. He scored a career-high 16 points in the win against Houston.
Quinton Ross, Sr., G/F, SMU - averaged 30.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in two games last week. He was 18-of-30 from the field and 20-of-22 from the line in the two games. Ross scored a career-high 32 points against North Texas and added 28 at Texas Tech.
Antonio Reed, Sr., G, Tulsa - scored a game-high 17 points and had three assists while playing on a sprained ankle in Tulsas 61-60 victory at Arkansas.

FRESNO STATE WINS SEVENTH STRAIGHT McCAFFREY CLASSIC Fresno State opened its season last week winning its own McCaffrey Classic. The Bulldogs opened with a 65-53 victory over Idaho State and then won the title by beating Saint Marys, 67-65, on a last second shot by Damon Jackson. It was the seventh year in a row that Fresno State had won their tournament.

TULSA SECOND BEST OVER LAST FOUR SEASONS Since the start of the 1999-2000 season, Tulsa has won 88 games, tied with Cincinnati for the second most in the nation behind Dukes 98 victories. Gonzaga is fourth with 86 wins.

HAWAII OWNS LONGEST HOME STREAK Hawaii has the WACs longest home winning streak at 14 in a row. The WACs second longest current home winning streak is eight games by Louisiana Tech.

1,000-POINT SCORERS The WAC has six players that have scored more than 1,000 points in their collegiate careers: Terrance Green, G, Nevada (1,245); Quinton Ross, G, SMU (1,241); Kevin Johnson, F, Tulsa (1,130); Roy Smallwood, F, UTEP (1,104); Antonio Meeking, F, Louisiana Tech (1,092); and Dante Swanson, G, Tulsa (1,000).

NCAA STATISTICS The NCAA will release its first statistical report of the season next Tuesday, Dec. 10.

NATIONAL RANKINGS Tulsa is ranked 19th both the AP and ESPN-USA Today coaches polls. Hawaii also received votes in both polls.

NON-CONFERENCE MARK The WAC is 18-10 (.643) in non-conference games this season, including a 15-10 (.600) mark against Division I teams. Last year, WAC teams were 71-46 (.607) in non-conference games with a 61-44 (.581) mark against Division I teams. The WACs best record ever against non-conference opponents came during the 1974-75 season when it was 73-22 (.768).

2003 WILLIAMS WAC TOURNAMENT The 2003 Williams WAC Tournament will be held March 11-15 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla. Both the men and women compete during the same week. On the mens side, the seven, eight, nine and ten seeded teams will play on Tuesday, March 11. The remaining eight teams will all play in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 13 with the top seed competing versus the winner of the Tuesday eight-nine game, the No. 2 seed vs. the winner of the seven-10 game, the No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 and No 4 vs. No. 5. The winners will play in the semifinals on Friday and the championship game will be Saturday night.

WILLIAMS IS TOURNAMENT SPONSOR For the third year in a row, Williams will be the WACs tournament sponsor. Williams, through its subsidiaries, connects businesses to energy, delivering innovative, reliable products and services. Williams information is available at www.williams.com.

FRESNO STATE, NEVADA TO HOST FUTURE WAC TOURNAMENTS Earlier this fall, Fresno State was selected to host the 2004 WAC Tournament while Nevada will host the tournament in 2005. In 2004, the tournament will be played in the brand new Save Mart Center on the Fresno State campus. The following year, it will be held in Nevadas Lawlor Events Center.

ESPN/FOX SPORTS SOUTHWEST SCHEDULE The WAC has a multi-year contract with ESPN for coverage of football and basketball. Four games were scheduled for ESPN/ESPN2 (including the mens tournament championship game) while Fox Sports Net will telecast seven mens games and four womens games including the womens WAC tournament final.

BRACKET BUSTER SATURDAY The WAC and four of its teams have partnered with ESPN and several other top college basketball conferences for Bracket Buster Saturday, a new one-day, nine-game mens basketball event matching potential NCAA tournament hopefuls against each other. Bracket Buster Saturday will be played annually beginning with the inaugural event February 22, 2003. ESPN and ESPN2 will present five live games highlighted by the only predetermined game for 2003 featuring two teams that have reached the Elite Eight in recent years: Tulsa (2000) at Gonzaga (1999). In addition to those five, there will be four games produced and distributed in the markets of the competing teams. The 18-team field will feature four teams from the WAC (Fresno State, Hawaii, Louisiana Tech and Tulsa), Mid-American Conference and Missouri Valley Conference and three from the Horizon League, plus UC Santa Barbara from the Big West Conference, Western Kentucky from the Sun Belt Conference and Gonzaga from the West Coast Conference. The match-ups for Bracket Buster Saturday will be determined by ESPN in conjunction with the conferences on Monday, Feb. 3, 2003.

TEAM NOTES Information on the mens basketball teams in the WAC:

Boise State - sophomore forward Jason Ellis had a career-high 15 rebounds in the victory against Idaho State ... it was the second week in a row that he set a career-high in rebounds and he leads the WAC in rebounds with 11.3 per game ... Boise State has not scored 100 points since beating U.S. International, 106-82, during the 1985-86 season (472 games).

Fresno State - head coach Ray Lopes broke his left middle finger last Wednesday during a drill in practice ... he will wear a cast on the hand for a few weeks ... senior Travis DeManby tied his career-high with 15 points on five three-pointers against Idaho State ... Fresno State is 2-0 for the fifth time in the last seven years ... the Bulldogs are looking to go 3-0 for the first time since the 1997-98 season ... Fresno State hosts Santa Clara on Wednesday night ... Fresno State has won 14 games in a row in the McCaffrey Classic, the longest streak in the history of the tournament ... the Bulldogs began their season on Nov. 29, later than any other team in the country except Ohio which began Nov. 30 ... Fresno State is 104-20 (.839) at Selland Arena since the 1995-96 season ... this is the final season at Selland Arena for Fresno State as the Bulldogs will play in the Save Mart Center next year.

Hawaii - Hawaii does not return to action until December 9 when it plays an exhibition game against Hawaii-Hilo ... Mark Campbell leads the WAC in assists with 7.0 per contest ... the Rainbow Warriors lead the WAC in scoring with 90.5 points per game ... UH has made 18-of-37 (.486) three-point shots ... UH has won 23 of its last 27 games ... UH has won 15 of its last 22 games away from home ... Hawaii has won 14 straight home games and 25 of its last 26 in Honolulu ... in addition, UH has won 16 straight WAC home games dating back to 2000-01, the longest current streak in the conference.

Louisiana Tech - the Bulldogs return to action on Saturday against No. 24 Mississippi State (Fox Sports South) ... it is the second time Tech has played a ranked team as it lost to No. 8 Florida in the Preseason NIT ... the Bulldogs have not played a game since beating Millsaps College on Nov. 24 ... Louisiana Tech is 15-0 at home against non-conference opponents under head coach Keith Richard ... Tech has won 14 of its last 19 games and won 11 of its last 12 conference games.

Nevada - the Wolf Pack host their first home game on Wednesday night against in-state rival UNLV ... Nevada is 11-0 in home non-conference games over the last two seasons ... the Packs two losses are by a combined five points ... Nevada has outrebounded its opponents in all three games this season ... the Pack is second in the WAC in blocked shots with 6.0 per contest.

Rice - this weeks game against Lamar completes a creative week of scheduling for the Owls as they will have played against the Cardinal (Stanford), Cougars (Houston), Cougars (Brigham Young) and Cardinals (Lamar) ... the Owls beat Houston, 71-53, last week to win the inaugural Administaff Bayou Cup ... Rice leads the WAC in free throw shooting (.813) ... head coach Willis Wilson needs just one win to tie Don Suman for the most victories at Rice (131) ... 7-0 freshman center Mike Kinsella has missed all four games after suffering a stress fracture right before the season-opener.

San Jose State - SJSU defeated Santa Clara last week for the first time since Dec. 1, 1996 ... six Spartans scored in double figures in the Menlo College game for the first time since 1979 ... San Jose States 98 points against Menlo College last week were its most since beating Gonzaga, 98-87, on Nov. 26, 1993 ... SJSU has not scored 100 points in a game since beating Utah State, 101-85, on Jan. 25, 1979 ... the Spartans travel to Saint Marys on Wednesday night looking for its third win in a row ... SJSU has not won three in a row since the 2000-01 season when it did it three times ... Saint Marys leads the series 37-34 ... San Jose State has used three different starting lineups in its first three games ... only forward Brett Lilly and guard Keith West have started all three games ... the Spartans lead the WAC in rebounding margin (+10.7 per game) ... junior forward Oudie Baker is second in the WAC in scoring with 19.7 points per game.

SMU - the Mustangs play at Oral Roberts on Wednesday and are 6-0 versus the Golden Eagles ... sophomore Patrick Simpson has blocked eight shots in three games (2.67 per contest) to lead the WAC ... junior Quinton Ross has scored in double figures in the last 25 games, currently the longest streak in the WAC ... Rosss 32 points last week against North Texas were the most scored by a Mustang since Jeryl Sasser scored 39 at UTEP on Jan. 22, 2001 ... Ross has moved into 15th place on SMUs all-time scoring chart with 1,241 points ... Ross leads the WAC in scoring with 29.3 points per game ... Eric Castro recorded his second career double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds against North Texas.

UTEP - UTEP takes to the road on Wednesday for a game at Houston ... Houston is 0-3 on the season ... the WAC is 3-0 versus Conference USA teams this season ... the Miners were 0-12 on the road last year and have lost 15 in a row dating back to the 2000-01 season when it beat Rice in Houston ... UTEP was the only WAC team to not win a road game last year ... the Miners host New Mexico State on Saturday and are then off until playing the Aggies against on Dec. 18 in Las Cruces.

Tulsa - Tulsa beat Arkansas last week, 61-60, snapping a seven-game losing streak against the Razorbacks ... it was also Tulsas first win at Arkansas since 1974 ... the Golden Hurricane meet Wichita State on Wednesday night for the 117th time, the second longest series in school history (Drake-118) ... Tulsa leads the series 59-57 and has won the last 12 straight against the Shockers ... its the first home game for the Golden Hurricane this season ... Tulsa is 3-0 for the first time since starting the 1999-2000 season 7-0 ... Tulsa has won 15 of its last 18 games ... last year, senior guard Dante Swanson led the WAC and the nation in three-point field goal percentage (.490) ... he is 7-of-14 (.500) from three-point range this year ... Swanson has scored exactly 1,000 points in his career ... the current five-member senior class has a record of 88-23 (.793) ... Tulsa has sold out 28 of its 58 games at the Reynolds Center where it has gone 50-8 (.862), the best winning percentage at home of any WAC team in its current arena ... every season that Tulsa has won 20 games, it has either played in the NCAA Tournament or won the NIT Championship.